Every Day Is A Winding Road
by myluckynumberis4
Summary: A Wemma/Carma fanfic; 5 chapters. Emma and Carl are having a nice, romantic trip when suddenly, the car crashes and Carl ends up severely injured. Emma invites Will over and they get drunk. WARNING: Contains smut.
1. Every day is a winding road

Emma laughed loudly, throwing her head back, her hair blowing behind her in the cool summer breeze. Carl looked at his beautiful wife and smiled. He felt happy knowing that he had made her better. And now he was sure they could enjoy a romantic weekend away from Will Schuester. Carl didn't trust Will, especially after the Rocky Horror fiasco. Carl suddenly noticed Emma looking behind with a guilty look on her face.

"Em? What's up?" he asked.

"Um, nothing, nothing. Just thought I… don't worry," she smiled, still looking behind. Emma thought she saw Will Schuester walking along the road. But it wasn't him. Emma felt strangely disappointed, and she didn't know why. She was happy with Carl but she felt sorry for Will, after everything that had happened between them in the past. She knew how he must be feeling; after all, she had spent a whole two years watching him love someone else and now he had to watch Emma being happy with someone who was making her better. She sighed and turned up the radio, Sheryl Crow's 'Every Day Is a Winding Road' suddenly blasting. Almost straight away, Carl began singing in a terrible high pitched voice. Emma felt her cheeks flushing red and gently hit him with her clutch purse. It only made him sing louder.

"Every day is a winding road; I get a little bit closer,"

"Carl, stop! Carl! People are looking!" she pleaded, laughing as Carl used his free hand to tickle her.

Suddenly, the car screeched violently and loudly and swerved off of the road into a sign post, colliding with several other cars going into Carl's side. Emma looked in horror, her whole body trembling nervously. She looked at Carl, his body bent at an unnatural angle, his head looking oddly distorted.

"Oh, God! Someone help! Dial 911, please!" she yelled, getting out of the passenger side. Emma had managed to escape the crash with a few scratches but Carl looked a lot worse for wear. People began rushing over to the yellow convertible car. A middle aged woman came over to Emma and wrapped her arm round her, trying to be comforting. Emma flinched and began to hyperventilate, everything suddenly spinning around her.

Emma woke up to the smell of disinfectant and the sound of rushed voices. Emma looked up and saw a plump, friendly-looking nurse who looked over at Emma and smiled.

"Are you awake now? That must have been a shock for you. Of course you got out a lot less harmed than your partner. Have you got any family you want us to contact?" she asked, propping the pillows up for Emma.

Emma stared around the hospital ward, remembering what had happened. She began to sob; it was partially her fault after all, if she had have just let Carl sing the song, none of this would be happening and they would be having a nice meal. "Where's Carl? Is he… okay?"

"Well… I don't know how to say this, but it seems his neck is broken. He's still in state of confusion; something must have knocked him out hard. What actually happened, Emma?" the nurse asked, coughing anxiously.

Emma began wringing her hands together. "Well… um... we were in the car, and Carl was singing and then… he lost concentration of the road and um… well then we crashed. Is he going to… be okay?" she asked, her voice sounding as though she was about to start crying.

The nurse put a large arm around Emma's shoulder, causing Emma to stiffen. "Well apart from a broken neck and a few stitches, I should think everything will be fine. And he'll probably gain his memory again soon. But until then, you can go home. You're all okay, you didn't even need any stitches; you had quite the lucky escape it seems!" the nurse laughed, trying to cheer the mood. Emma felt anything but cheerful.

Emma discharged herself from the hospital and walked out of the automatic doors, finally able to breathe in the smell of fresh air and not the smell of rubbing alcohol and got her mobile out of her purse. She looked through her contacts, scrolling past her parents, past Shannon, stopping at someone who she knew was going to be the worst possible choice. Will Schuester. Shaking nervously, she held the phone to her ear.

Will's phone vibrated against the coffee table and he knocked his can of beer over trying to quickly answer it.

"Shit!" he said, grabbing his phone before it could get damaged from the spreading liquid. He looked at the screen which read "Emma Pillsbury". He quickly pressed the green call button and held the phone to his ear.

"Emma? Wow um hi, what's up?" he asked, trying not to sound too enthusiastic; after all, this was the first time they'd spoken in almost a month. After Will's failed production of Rocky Horror, Carl had forbidden Will to speak to Emma. Will hated everything about Carl and he knew that Emma could do so much better.

"Will, um, can you please come and pick me up from the hospital? I know it's a lot to ask but I still look to you as a friend and you are the only person I could get hold of," she lied.

"Sure, Em. Um but why are you at the hospital? Are you hurt? What happened? Oh, God are you okay?" he asked, sounding panicky.

Emma smiled to herself, happy that Will still seemed to care about her. "No, it's not me, it's Carl. Listen, I'll tell you about it when you come to pick me up. Thank you, Will. I really, really appreciate this. I hope you know that,"

"Okay Em, I'll be there in 5. Wait for me in the pick-up area. Okay bye," he said, pressing the hang up button and throwing off his t-shirt, using it to wipe up the beer on the coffee table. He ran to the bathroom and sprayed himself with deodorant, throwing on another t-shirt. He grabbed his car keys and dashed out to his car and headed off for the hospital.


	2. A shoulder to cry on

Will sped down the highway, only just managing to bring his old, worn out car to a halt at the red lights. He tapped his fingers impatiently against the dashboard, sighing loudly.

Emma sat down anxiously, the cold metal of the dark blue bench outside the hospital lobby cold against her pale thighs. She shook her right leg up and down like she always did when she was nervous. She looked down at the floor, quickly cocking her head up at the sound of a car. It wasn't Will. 'Where was he?' she thought, looking at the sky which was slowly fading to an orangey, purpley colour. The car park became emptier and emptier and the breeze grew colder, when at last, Will's blue car pulled over to the lay by.

"Get in the front seat, Em, the back seats are absolutely _filthy_," Will said, turning the radio off.

Emma got in the car and smiled at Will, "Thank you, Will. It really means a lot,"

Will reached out and tucked Emma's hair behind her ear and kissed her cheek. He felt her stiffen and he swallowed, "Sorry. I know the feelings I have for you are... totally pointless. And I know that you did feel them back, once, and don't deny it, Emma. But I'm sorry. I value our friendship, I really do. So I'll just take you home, like a friend, okay?"

Emma sniffed and looked at Will; her eyes looked glazy, "It's okay, Will. I've been in your situation before, remember? I know how... impossible everything feels. But I promise you, soon, you're going to find someone to replace your feelings for me, and everything will be better. I value our friendship, too, Will. I really do, and I'm sorry that nothing is ever probably going to be the same again between us,"

The car journey home involved long, awkward silences, only being broken by the various cough or sigh. Emma looked out the steamed up window at the streetlit pavements and all the happy, smiling people who were taking their lives for granted. She had images of Carl, his almost lifeless body laying on a hospital bed and a tear dropped onto the window ledge. Will looked at her and patted her shoulder sympathetically.

"Almost there now, Em," he said, his voice trying to cheer the mood. Emma nodded and wiped her eyes.

The car pulled into Emma's neat drive way, the hedges cut perfectly. Will got out and helped Emma out of the car. Emma walked over to her front door, about to put the key in the whole. She turned to look at Will, who was now sat in his car. Suddenly, without even thinking, she ran back to the car and tapped the window.

Will wound the window down, "You okay, Ems?" he asked.

"Do you want to come in for a drink? I have coffee, tea, erm, champagne? Me and Carl were going to have it to celebrate something but as he's in hospital, he might not be out for ages and-" Emma burbled on until Will gently put his forefinger to her peach-coloured lips.

"I would love to. You sure it's okay? I mean, I don't want to... you know, mess things up," he said, though inwardly, all he wanted to do was snuggle up on the sofa drinking champagne with her.

"How would you mess things up? Come on, it's starting to rain out here," Emma said as she felt cold droplets of rain land on her bare arms.

"I don't know! Oh, shit, quick!" Will said, laughing as the heavens suddenly broke and heavy, hard rain began pelting down on the pair of them. They both laughed and ran inside to the comfort of Emma's house.

Will entered Emma's neat hallway, his clothes dripping wet. He looked around, noticing something different from the last time he had been there, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Emma noticed him looking around with confusion.

"Something wrong?" Emma asked, taking her sodden shoes off and placing them on the shoe rack.

Will took his jacket off and hung it up, moving Carl's denim jacket to the next hook so he didn't ruin it, "Nope, just something looks different."

"Oh, I painted it, needed a bit of a brightening up in here." she said, tapping the yellow walls. Will nodded and followed her into the black and white kitchen. She gestured towards the chair by the table and fiddled around in the cupboard. Will switched the kettle on, causing Emma to turn around.

"I thought we were having champage?" she said, holding two ultra shiny champagne flutes. Will smiled, "I don't think that's a good idea, Em. Carl wouldn't like it,"

Emma sighed and rolled her eyes, "Carl doesn't own me, Will, I can look after myself. We're having champagne, okay?" Will laughed, looking taken aback.

"Wow, I've never seen 'Angry Emma' before, it's quite scary!" he said, as Emma gently hit him.

The living room was gloomy, the only light coming from the red lava lamp on the shelf. Emma and Will sat opposite each other on the matching leather armchairs. They'd been talking for a whole two hours, not even noticing the time. Will looked at his phone in his pocket.

"Damn, it's 10 o'clock already. I should be heading home, Em," he said, getting up and standing unsteadily on his feet.

"Don't be stupid, Will! You can't possibly drive home in this condition. I'll call a cab for you, okay?" she said, getting up herself and stumbling, falling right ontop of Will, causing them both to land on the floor. They laughed and their noses bumped together. Emma closed her eyes and Will leaned in, giving her a soft kiss. He'd forgotten how great it felt to be kissing her mouth. Emma was having the same thoughts; Will was such a good kisser, she almost forgot. They leaned in for another kiss, this time, longer and more toungue action. Emma suddenly sat upright and stood up, a little wobbly.

"Wait this isn't right. What are we doing, Will? I've got Carl," she said.

"Oh, my God. Emma, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault!" Will said, getting up too.  
"No, no, it's my fault. I should have listened to you, champagne was definitely a bad idea," she said; but her mind was just focusing on Will's slight glimpse of chest hair that peeped through the 3 buttons he had undone on his shirt.

Will looked at Emma's lips, mesmerised. 'This is so wrong, but so right.' he thought to himself. Suddenly, Emma threw herself at Will, her hands going through his luscious curls. He was startled, but he stroked her hair with his hand, placing the other on her bottom.

Carl's heartrate monitor beeped violently, suddenly causing doctors to race to his room. He began fitting violently, his body pulsating as if in spazm.

"Bring pediatrics on the ward. Now, please!" shouted a doctor.

Will hoisted Emma up around his waist, still attached to her mouth, and carried her clumsily out of the room and up the dark stair way, making his way to the bedroom that he'd only ever been in once. Emma mumbled something unaudible in between the kisses, forcing herself to stop kissing Will for just a second.

"Not my room, go to the guest room, on the left," she breathed, going back to kissing his mouth.

Will found the door knob with his spare hand and pushed it open, throwing Emma onto the bed.


	3. Rose petals

Emma landed with a soft thud on the bed and giggled as Will kissed her neck gently pulling her hair so she was closer to his body. Emma's mind was else where, just for once living in the moment and not caring about how neither herself or Will had brushed their teeth before kissing. Will's hand crept slowly down the front of Emma's pale yellow blouse, but Emma quickly came back to reality and pushed his hand away, suddenly sitting very still on the bed. Will stopped, realising he'd obviously pushed it too quickly. He felt ashamed and embarrassed, and, though he hated to admit it, even to himself, he felt mildly bad for Carl.

He swallowed, "Sorry, again, Emma. I'm so sorry. But you seemed like you wanted... you know... me." Emma looked at him and shook her head; he had completely misinterpreted her actions. She did want Will, so bad. But she couldn't bring her self to say it.

"Emma... this might be a little bit of an, um, personal question, but... have you and Carl... done it?" he asked, wanting to shove the words back in his mouth.

Emma felt her cheeks flush beetroot, thankful for the lack of light in the room, "Um... well... no, we haven't. We've been so close, so many times. And everytime... I just... panic. I can't help it. I just... I don't know. I just never feel ready, you know? And then when I am... in the mood, Carl has just given up and it's almost as if he doesn't want me. It makes me feel guilty. I know men have needs, but I just want to wait until I feel ready," she said, close to tears. Will put an arm round her shoulders and kissed her forehead.

"Emma, one day, you will be ready and will finally have... intimacy with Carl. Or maybe even someone else," he tried hard not to add 'me' at the 'someone else'. Emma kissed Will on the lips.

"Will. What I am about to say is probably totally crazy, but... you know what? I need to start living on the edge. I am ready. Now, Will. For you. Right now-" she said, interrupted by Will.

"Emma are you crazy? Carl is in hospital. You can't possibly be serious?"

Emma seemed surprised; she thought Will wanted the same. "I thought you wanted me, Will. I thought you were ready, too, to be intimate with me," she sounded confused and hurt.

"Emma, of course I want you. But you have Carl. I can't let myself do this, as much as I dislike Carl, he is making you happy. I think I really have got to go now," he said, doing his shirt buttons up.

"Touch me, Will. Please. Just once. I just... want to know what it's like to be intimate with you. Carl doesn't even have to know, I promise I wont tell him, Will. Please just-" she stopped, Will's finger to her lips again.  
"Okay, Em. If you are totally sure this is what you want, then okay. Fine by me," he said, taking Emma's face in his hands. She kissed the corner of his mouth and took his left hand, placing it to her breast. He slid it down the blouse, feeling the soft skin over the top of her bra with his thumb and forefinger. Emma started removing her blouse, revealing a pale purple lacey bra as Will kissed her neck, rubbing her breasts with both of his hands. She groaned, throwing the blouse on the floor. He delicately bit into her bare shoulder and she breathed loudly. He carried on caressing her small breasts, which she felt self-conscious about.

"Is that enough?" he asked, taking his hands away from her chest area. Emma looked at Will, the moonlight from outside emphasising her big, round eyes, "Will, I want you,"

"In what way?" he asked, coyly though he knew exactly what she was on about.

"I want you inside of me." she said, slightly embarrassed at the awkwardness of how it came out.

"Okay, but we need to... you know, get you ready. And as this is your first time, I want it to be special for you. So if we both go freshen up, then we'll... get down to business. If you are totally sure you're, you know, ready for this. I don't want to feel like I'm pressuring you into anything you don't want to do. Okay?" he said, holding Emma's face in his left hand. She kissed a thumb that traced lightly over her lips.

"Okay, Will. And I am totally sure I do want to do this. What's the worst that can happen, right? Carl will never know. And we will probably forget about this by tomorrow, after the drink is all out of our system. So I'm gonna go and get showered, stay here. I'll be right back." she said, sauntering out of the room in her bra and skirt. Will lay on the bed side ways, staring after Emma. It was as if she'd been completely taken over by aliens. Will liked this side of Emma, but he didn't want to hurt her or cause problems for Carl. He looked around the room for inspiration to make it look slightly more romantic. There wasn't much in there. He crept out of the room onto the dark landing, the light from the bathroom shining out from the gap in the door that Emma left ajar. He could hear her soft singing voice mixed with the sound of the water. He smiled; he loved hearing Emma's voice, it was so happy and optimistic. He crept into Emma's room and looked at the perfectly made bed, the dressing table completely organised. He pulled open the drawer next to her bed and found some tea candles and a packet of fake rose petals, along with boxes of condoms that had never been opened. Carl had obviously been planning this night for a long time. Will quickly shoved the candles, rose petals and condoms in his pocket and grabbed a pack of matches and padded quietly back to the guest room, sprinkling the bed with rose petals and lighting the candles. He heard Emma humming in the room across the landing. He ran to the bathroom and got himself ready, leaving the room for Emma to find.


	4. The first time

Emma looked in her drawers for some underwear that looked half-decent. She sighed, tossing endless bras and pants out. She wanted to look nice for Will. In the end she just decided to wear her black and white lacy bra and pants. She felt a pang of guilt as she slid the knickers over her thin legs; Carl brought her the underwear as their 3 month anniversary present. She shook her head to get rid of the bad thoughts and looked in the mirror, checking herself for things she could fix before Will came out of the shower. She put on some eye liner and smudged it a little bit, hoping it would make her look slightly sexier. She looked like a panda and decided to just wipe away the smudgey bits. She ruffled her hair, giving it more volume and applied some lip stick that she'd never worn before. She smiled in the mirror and heard the water stop in the bathroom, quickly going back to the guestroom to get ready for Will.

When she walked in to the dark room, the aroma of cinnamon immediately hit her and she saw that there were some red, Christmas-scented candles and rose petals on the bed. She smiled; Will had obviously done all of this just to make her first time ultra special. She got onto the bed and tested different poses, trying to decide which one would be best. She heard Will coming and quickly layed down on her side, her elbow bent with her hand supporting her head. She spread out the rose petals more evenly. Will came in to the room, his white Calvin Klein briefs tight against the area Emma couldn't wait to finally look at. He rubbed a hand through his hair and saw Emma, laying on the bed.

"Come here," she said, her voice sounding sultry and breathless. Will walked over to the bed where Emma laid and he kissed her. She rolled over onto her back, Will leaning over her. He kissed her lips, poking his toungue deep into her mouth. She ran her fingers through his damp curls. She didn't understand why she didn't feel nervous, she was about to do it for the first time and yet she didn't feel scared or worried at all. The alcohol in her system had helped a little, although she had sobered up a little. Will pushed his hand up her thigh, edging slowly towards the area Emma desperately wanted him to touch. Emma pushed his hand away.

"Not yet," she whispered. He took his hand away and put it to her chest, feeling her heart beating heavily through her pale skin. He started planting kisses all down her neck and the top of her breasts, exposed by the bra. She felt totally turned on and threw her head back against the soft material of the bed, breathing heavily.

He started moving his hand up her thigh, this time getting to the panties. Emma grew tenser, but decided to just go with the flow. Will pushed her pants to the side and inserted a finger into her. Emma went tense, both enjoying the feeling but also finding it slightly uncomfortable. Will's thumb rubbed her, making her open up more and carefully, her pushed in another finger; working both of them inside of her as she tilted her head back as far as it could go. She breathed heavily, her thighs going lax against Will's body.

"Want me to stop?" he asked.

"No, no it's fine. Will!" she moaned.

He took his fingers out and put them to Emma's lips; something she really didn't want him to do. He went back to kissing her lips and she felt a hard bulge against her thigh. She'd only felt this before once with Carl, and she quickly turned over and went to sleep because she knew what was going to happen. But with Will, it was a whole different story. She was ready, for the first time in her life. Will took off his boxers and passed the condom to Emma. She put it on, feeling herself blushing. She took off her pants and lay back on the bed, Will leaning over her, his erection close to her quivering thighs.

He leaned his head close to her's so she could feel his warm, sweet breath soft on her cheek, "You are so beautiful, Em. Now on the count of 3, I'm going to go in, okay?" he whispered.

She shook, half with nerves but the other half was excited energy. She nodded her head and kissed his cheek. He counted down, getting closer and closer each time until finally, on 3, he thrusted hard into her. She was overwhelmed with a mixture of pain and pleasure; both equalling each other out. Will started going at a heavy pace, breathing heavily above Emma's body. She held tight to his arms, getting used to the pain. She felt so amazingly beautiful, really feeling that this was the right thing. She closed her eyes and threw her head backwards, her eyes wide, letting out quick gasps. Will kissed her lips and thrusted one last time, feeling the redhead's body going completely soft underneath his sweating, muscular physique.

He pulled himself out, panting hard. Emma laughed, beads of sweat covering her face. He stroked her face, cupping it in his hand. He rolled over Emma carefully, so they both lay next to eachother, panting and laughing.

"You did it, Ems. I'm so proud of you. I don't want to sound corny, but, that was the first time I've ever... felt something special with the person I've been... intimate with. Even with Terri, I never felt so many feelings. I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time when I was... inside of you. That was beautiful, just like you. So thank you, for letting me be the first person to experience that with you. I love you, Emma. I really do. I hope this isn't going to ruin anything with you and Carl, or with you and me for that matter." he said, smiling.

Emma breathed heavily, smiling at Will, "Will, that is the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me. You were so gentle with me, thank you. I feel... so amazing right now. But I'm also tired, so shall we sleep?"

Will looked around the room. Emma caught him and laughed, "Will, I'm giving you permission, okay? After all, if you leave, it doesn't seem as special, does it? It will make me feel whoreish," she said, as Will laughed.

"Okay, okay. But let me just go to the toilet, okay? Then I'll be right back." he said, getting up and disposing of the condom in the bin on the way out.

Emma smiled and settled back on the bed. She let out a deep, loud sigh and closed her eyes. She never knew sex would be so tiring. She had her eyes closed for 2 minutes when the phone began to ring down stairs. She jumped up and grabbed her dressing gown.

"Will!" she called. "I'm just going down stairs, the phone's ringing!"

She ran down the stairs and grabbed the phone quickly. "Hello?" she said.

"Hello, this is Lima Hospital. Can we speak to Mrs Emma Pillsbury-Howell?"

Emma started shaking, "This is she. Is it about Carl? Um, how is he?"

"We're sorry but we have bad news. Your husband... passed away. We tried everything to bring him back. His brain tissue was so severely damaged that he couldn't possibly have survived. We're sorry for your loss. Hello? Mrs Pillsbury?" the phone fell to the floor. Emma stood still, shaking, her eyes wide.

Will ran down the stairs, "Emma? Is everything okay? What was the bang? Are you-" he stopped when he saw the phone on the floor and Emma standing still as a statue. He guessed what had happened.

"Emma? Come here. There, there, sweety. It's gonna be okay, I promise. Okay? Come here." he said, in a hushed tone, as Emma wept into his chest, his t-shirt getting make-up all over it.

"Shh, shh, there, there. It's okay, babe. Shh," he whispered, kissing her head.

Will sat on the couch with Emma sobbing helplessly into his lap. He stroked her head, feeling guilt stabbing him all over. He just wanted to go home, he felt awful.

Emma looked at Will, "I'm so sorry. You must feel awful. I feel terrible. You can go home if you want. I think I want to be on my own. I'm so so sorry. I never knew this was going to happen. Please just go,"

"Emma I can't leave you like this," he argued.

"No I want you to go, please." she said, her voice cracking, pushing him away and turning over on the sofa, pushing her face into the sides to hide the tears.

He got up and made for the door, "Okay but I'm coming back in the morning to check on you, okay?" he said, shutting it behind him, leaving Emma alone in the silent, dark house to cry.


	5. Goodbye

The sun shone threw Emma's pale yellow lace curtains. She stretched and yawned, realising she had fallen asleep on the sofa in her underwear. She sat up quickly, giving a little gasp when she remembered what had happened last night. She felt dirty and awful and guilty; all these horrible feelings were overwhelming her. She wanted to leave Ohio, leave everything behind. But she couldn't do that, that would be cowardly. She decided to just blame all of last night's actions on herself, even Carl's death. She had never experienced the death of a loved one before; it felt quite surreal to her, she couldn't quite get to grips with the fact that Carl was actually gone.

On the floor by the door were bits of the broken house phone, reminding Emma of the phone call. She looked at her hands which shook uncontrollably. She went up to the bathroom, the house eerily quiet. She tiptoed quietly along the corridor, avoiding looking into the guest room. She locked the bathroom door and began running the taps, filling the bath tub with warm, soapy water. She took off her underwear, tears already streaming down her face. She got into the bath after turning the shower on and sat, wrapping her pale, cold arms around her legs which she clutched tightly to her chest. She rested her head on her knees, the cold water from the shower splashing her head.

"Everything will be okay, everything will be okay, everything will be okay..." she repeated these 4 simple, short, meaningless words over and over in her head, the bath getting more and more filled. Slowly, she laid down, the water almost reaching her mouth and nose. "I hope drowning really is like going to sleep," she thought to herself.

Emma sat in the waiting room of the dentist, the same nervous feeling she always got even though she knew her teeth were perfect. Opposite of her was an old man who kept coughing and sneezing, not putting his hand over his mouth. Emma shuddered at the thought of touching anything his germ-infested hands may have got hold of. A couple walked through the door, a toddler in tow. They headed towards the seat to Emma's left. Emma stiffened, not wanting to look rude by moving. Luckily, at that moment, her name was called to see the dentist. She worried that her new dentist wasn't going to be good.

She walked into the white, clean room, the smell of mouth wash hitting her straight away. A dark, handsome man with a sparkling white smile was standing by the chair.

"You must be Emma Pillsbury. Hi, I'm your new dentist. I'm Dr. Howell but you can call me Carl," he said, grinning.

Emma stammered, her mind turning to jelly. It only did this when Will Schuester spoke to her, "Uhm... hi... Dr. Ca- no sorry, Dr. Howell. Hello," she said, discreetly wiping down the shiny plastic cover on the chair.

Carl looked at her suspiciously, "It is clean, Miss. Pillsbury!" he said, cheerfully. Emma's cheeks reddened.

"Um, I know, I know, just... yep um," she said, laying on the chair that was moving backwards. Carl checked her teeth, counting her teeth.

"Everything seems perfect, Emma. You really have a perfect smile," he said, putting the instruments in the disinfectant as Emma got up and put on some hand sanitizer.

"Thank you, so I'll come back in six months for my next check-up?" she asked, putting the mini bottle of gel back in her hand bag.

Carl laughed, "You're keen! But yeah, six months,"

"Thank you, bye, Carl." she said, smiling as she struggled to open the door with her elbow. Carl saw she was struggling and helped her open it.

Emma was half way down the corridor when Carl came out of the door holding Emma's packet of wipes.  
"Miss. Pillsbury! Wait! You dropped these on your way out!" he said, running to give them back to her.

Emma smiled and laughed, quite embarrassed, "Oh, sorry, sorry, thank you. It means a lot, thank you," she said, putting them in her bag.

Carl coughed anxiously, about to turn around and go back, "Hey... Emma? I know we've just met and um... this is gonna sound totally crazy but... would you like to go for a meal sometime?"

Emma looked taken aback; men didn't often ask her out on dates. At least not unless they wanted to try it on with her or if they were just going to stand her up. "W-with you?" she asked, wary of his actions.

He laughed, showing off his pearly white teeth yet again, "No, no, not me, my twin brother," he said, sarcastically. Emma felt her cheeks redden again and laughed awkwardly.

"No, actually, you and me, Emma, tonight at Breadstix? I'm new here and I've never been there but I heard that it's the only resturant around here. They do pasta; you like pasta? It will be good for me to get to know one of my regulars," he said.  
"Well... um... I don't know what to say," Emma said.  
"You say yes, we go for a meal, I take you home... voila! It's a date?" he said, making it obvious to Emma that she couldn't deny it.

"Okay, okay, tonight?" she laughed, getting out her diary.

"Yep, okay, 6.30 sharp? Meet me there? Okay, I have to get back to work, bye Miss. P, it's nice to meet you. See you tonight," he said, walking back to the dentist room. Emma stood still, staring after him, her heart beating quickly.

"Emma? Emma? Where are you? Emma- Emma what the hell? What have you done? Emma?" Will crashed the bathroom door down, discovering water spilling over the edges of the bath, Emma laying under the pouring, now cold water.

She spluttered, coughing and choking as Will pulled her out. She grabbed hold of his shirt, shaking and crying. He kissed her cheek and hugged her, sinking to the floor, the pair of them rocking gently against eachother on the cold, wet bathroom floor.

Will got a towel out of the airing cupboard and wrapped it around Emma's pale shoulders. She stood in the bathroom, shivering, her hair dripping water over her chest. Will helped her walk to her room and he helped get her pyjamas on and put her into her bed while he cleaned up the bathroom.

He walked past the guest room, looking through the door which was half open, remembering all what happened last night. The duvet cover lay scrumpled, half on the floor, rose petals everywhere, the curtains still drawn. He sighed, taking the duvet cover off of the duvet and shoving it under his arm to put in the washing machine.

After he cleaned the house, he sat in Emma's living room, feeling awkward and out of place. Emma stood at the door way, still shivering. She came and sat next to Will on the sofa.

"You cleaned my house, thank didn't have to, you know, but, thank you," she said, putting her hand supportively on Will's knee. He patted Emma's head, brushing the soft red hair out of her eyes.

"I'm taking you to the hospital later, so you can... um... say goodbye to Carl. Then I'll take you home, make you dinner and then I'll sleep on the sofa. Unless you want me to go home, I don't mind. I love you, Em," he said, kissing her forehead. This time, Emma didn't resist. Instead, she kissed her fingers and put them to his lips, mouthing "I love you, too" because the words hurt her too much to say aloud.

Will and Emma walked into the hospital, the smell making Emma feel nauseuos. Will spoke to the receptionist to save Emma's tears. The receptionist showed them to a room where a doctor took them to see the body. Will waited outside; leaving Emma to say good bye in private.

Emma stood over Carl, looking at his face. It felt strange, really strange, how only a day ago, his face had been alive, his eyes actually lit up. Now, all there seemed to be was a pale, grey-coloured face with dead, dull eyes. Emma cried, trying to let out silent sobs as the doctor stood by the door watching her.  
"I'm so, so sorry, Carl. I loved... no, I _love_ you. I do. I always will. We were only together for a short time, but we had... so many good times. And I'm so sorry. I don't ever want to tell you what I did the night you... passed away in here. I hope wherever you are now, you are happy. I love you, Carl. Goodbye," the tears rolled down her face and she asked the doctor if she could leave. He opened the door for her, leading her out to Will who was anxiously waiting. He put his arms around her, letting her get yet another one of his t-shirts damp from tears.

"There, there, Em. Let it all out, come on, sweetheart, let's go back to yours', okay?" he said, putting an arm protectively round her waist. She shook against him, though the air around them wasn't cold at all.

Emma looked up at the sky on the way out of the hospital, the sky already starting to get dark. She saw a twinkling star and wished in her mind; "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might; let everything turn out alright," she closed her eyes to make the wish come true and got into Will's car. He got in beside her and put on the radio. Every Day Is A Winding Road sounded out through the car, making the hairs on Emma's neck stand on end. She closed her eyes and blocked out the sound until the car pulled into her drive. Will helped her out and took her into the house and closed the door, shutting out the dark, cold night.


End file.
